Khanyisa Power Station

Coal producer Anglo American Thermal Coal’s (AATC’s) Khanyisa power project would be the first South African project of its kind using circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) technology, AATC project manager Julian Eslait said at a Fossil Fuel Foundation fluidised-bed combustion and gasification workshop, held in Johannesburg.

The Khanyisa power project involves the building of a 450 MW power generation plant, located on the site of AATC’s Kleinkopje colliery, in Mpumalanga. It will be fuelled by discard coal provided by AATC and will function as an independent power producer (IPP).

He added that the initial commercial operations date for the project had been 2015, but owing to the challenges faced by the project, it would probably go into production only in 2017.

These challenges included the strategic rationale and appropriate structure of the project, as Anglo American was a resource company, issues pertaining to the project site, the securing of long-term access to fuel and regulatory issues pertaining to third-party use of the transmission network, he said.